Tag Archives: summer

I love cereal – any and every kind. As far back as I can remember, I hardly ever ate anything else for breakfast. In the morning before school I could easily wolf down two huge bowls of Life, Rice Krispies, Frosted Mini Wheats, Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Froot Loops, you name it. My cereal addiction didn’t stop when I got to college but I just couldn’t manage to get myself to the dining hall before my 9am classes. Easy solution – keep cereal and milk in my dorm room. Big problem – cereal at the campus convenience store was obscenely expensive and I was going through over a box a week. Finally, parents’ weekend rolled around some time in October and my parents took me to Costco to stock up. We brought back somewhere between 15-20 boxes of cereal to my dorm room and then realized that, oh yeah, dorm rooms are TINY. My roommate happened to be gone for the weekend and she came back Sunday night to a room packed with cereal boxes in every nook and cranny. I’m not kidding; there were boxes under my bed, stacked up in the back of the closet, behind the TV, between my desk and my dresser, and god knows where else.

I have NEVER needed an excuse to eat cereal at any time of day, but in case you do, I can’t think of a better reason to eat cereal for dessert than Lucky Charms Cereal Milk Ice Cream Pie.

Guess who’s back, back again… So I haven’t blogged in a ridiculously long time and I really have no excuse, especially since it’s not like I’ve stopped making amazing desserts whenever I get the chance. If you follow me on Instagram (follow me on Instagram! @startedfromthebatter), you know that I’ve made some baller cakes in the past few months and also, this INSANE Peanut Butter Ice Cream Oreo Pie. I made it for the first time in mid-May and since then I’ve made it three more times. I’ve never made the same thing so often in such a short period of time and I’ve also never gotten as many compliments as I have on this dessert. Let me break it down for you: Oreo pie crust, homemade peanut butter ice cream (easy and you don’t need an ice cream maker), layered with hot fudge and Oreos. It’s peanut butter and Oreo overload and I swear if you make it you will not regret it.

Like this:

Summer is sadly still a few months away, but with a hint of warm weather last week in New York (I think it might actually have reached 60 degrees one day!), it really got me longing for warm, sunny days. Not just the beach and barbecues, but the real stars of summer: things like ice cream, s’mores, margarita popsicles, and Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices (the creme ones, duh).

For those not blessed with Ralph’s in their lives, it’s an Italian ices and ice cream establishment with locations all over New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey, open seasonally. To me, Ralph’s is synonymous with summer, the beach, warm summer nights, and basically, my childhood. My all-time FAVORITE flavor of Ralph’s is Strawberry Shortcake (not to be confused with Strawberry Cheesecake!). It’s refreshing and sweet and so perfectly embodies summer, AND it has graham cracker pieces mixed in.

Due to my love affair with graham crackers (see: s’mores cake with graham cracker frosting) Strawberry Shortcake has been able to clinch the title as my favorite Ralph’s flavor, beating out tough competition like Mint Chip, Mudslide, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.

At first I thought I didn’t have much of a story for this recipe, but then I remembered what happened the first time I made these yummy margarita popsicles. It was a hot summer day, and after spending an hour hand-juicing some limes, I went outside to relax by the pool. Fast forward two days and I woke up with red splotchy spots all over both of my hands. At first I thought it was a sunburn because it looked and felt exactly like one, but I did think it seemed unlikely that I would’ve only gotten burnt on my hands. The next day, the splotchy spots had become raised and bumpy, and I will spare you the rest of the graphic details but just imagine that it got progressively worse. After a trip to the dermatologist I found out that I had phytophotodermatitis, also known as “lime disease” or “margarita dermatitis” (thanks Wikipedia). Apparently there’s a reaction caused by lime juice and a few other substances that makes skin hypersensitive to ultraviolet light, and essentially causes chemical burns (thanks again, Wikipedia). There’s not much you can do for it except apply steroid cream and wait for it to go away on its own. Luckily what I had wasn’t that bad, but it still took about 6-8 months before my hands looked totally normal again. So, heed my warning and be very careful, wash your hands, or just do not go out in the sun after making these! And now, on to the pops. Continue reading →